Fed rep demands change after court hearings continue to interrupt officers’ annual leave

16 May 2023

“Threats were being made and I feared I could’ve been arrested in front of my daughter if I didn’t come back from my holiday to give evidence in court. This is happening far too often, and it’s shocking. We have the right to a private life too,” says West Midlands Fed rep and detective sergeant Jason Dooley.

Jason is calling for urgent change, after seeing more and more officers being unexpectedly ordered to cut their annual leave or holidays short because they are needed as a witness in court.

Drawing on his own personal experience, Jason says police officers are not being considered by the crown prosecution service, as he warns ‘if things do not change, the Force will lose great cops if things don’t change soon’.

“Because of an ongoing problem that’s being caused by the CJS (Criminal Justice System), the welfare of our officers is being seriously impacted. It’s crazy,” said Jason, who was ordered to attend a court case that having been brought forward coincided with his pre-booked annual leave.

West Midlands Fed rep Jason Dooley

“I put an objection in and that objection was refused,” explained Jason.

“Look, I wasn’t prepared to come back from my holiday, with my daughter, for a court case. This led to me being threatened with a witness summons, which left me fearing that I could’ve been arrested.

“I was actually worried that I was going to step off that plane having returned from holiday and be arrested, in front of my daughter. How embarrassing and mortifying would that have been?”

Jason recalled that at this point, he cited the Human Rights Act, which resulted in his words, ‘everyone going silent’.

He added: “The case had been adjourned, so it turned out I wasn’t needed that day. However, the stress and anxiety it caused me was unbelievable. I’d taken a week off prior to my actual holiday and I spent that entire week on the phone, trying to sort the situation.

“How is this happening? Just because we’re police officers and we’re serving members of the public, we have the right to a private life as well.

“We cannot switch off anymore, we are expected to be a police officer 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Are we ever allowed to relax?

“The current system is shocking. Officers, real people, are breaking because of this.”

As it stands, if police officers are given notice of a court case, they are asked to block book three weeks of their calendar per trial, in case they are called to give evidence.

“Obviously as part of the job, most officers make more than just the one arrest - which means they will be blocking out multiple blocks of time, in case they are needed in court,” Jason explained.

“I know of one colleague, who had eight ongoing court cases - which meant she was not allowed to book annual leave for 24 weeks of the year. Yet she will not know until the night before if she is required or not.

“And the worst bit - I know that at least most of those trials were cancelled or adjourned.”

The importance of Jason’s ongoing campaign was further highlighted, following a tweet from Fed member and police sergeant Mitch Derby, who was called back from his family holiday earlier this year, as he was needed as a witness in court.

However, having left his family on holiday and while he was on the train home, Mitch received a call letting him know that the case had been adjourned.

“If things don’t change, this is going to start having a real impact on our officers,” said Jason, who revealed he has missed several personal events including weddings and even his child’s fifth birthday due to being called into court.

“When in any other business would this happen? If Mitch was in any other job, he would not have been called back from his holiday.

“As police officers, we recognise that we might be called back from our rest days for court but we shouldn’t be called away from our annual leave.

“I have been in the Police for 28 years now and I’ve never seen so many people suffer from stress and anxiety - and this issue is not helping, it’s having a massive knock-on effect.

“What needs to change? It’s a really simple fix, the courts need to check our availability. They have access to this, it’s not difficult. And don’t ask us to block three weeks out - surely one week is enough? The courts are just being unrealistic in their approach.”

Jason is now encouraging members who find themselves being called back from their annual leave by the courts, or being placed on a court warning when they have annual leave already booked, to get in touch with the Federation.

“I know our members are worried that they could be breaking misconduct regulations if they don’t leave their family holiday to give evidence in court. But we will challenge this strongly,” confirmed Jason.

“Speak to your Federation, this is exactly why we are here. Reach out to us, and we will help you.”